ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by examining the tendency in early translations of Charles Baudelaire and Victor Hugo, and then considers translations published in the exclusive context of little magazines or slim volumes with small print runs. In 1857 Baudelaire published the first version of his Les Fleurs du mal and in 1866 Algernon Charles Swinburne brought out his Poems and Ballads, heavily influenced by Baudelaire's work. Both collections caused scandal, their depictions of sexual desire and sadomasochism inspiring critical admiration and horror. Swinburne's work was much admired in France, and frequently translated into French. This popularity, though, was insignificant in comparison to the profound and shaping influence that Baudelaire was to have on English literature. The collection opens with a selection of Gray's original poetry followed by several translations from Verlaine, and translations of one or two poems by Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Stephane Mallarme.
